A Unicorn, Maybe?
by succedissidor
Summary: Ace spends a day of shore leave, shortly after joining the Whitebeard Pirates. Not much plot. Rated for the curse words, which i love dearly.


One Piece and its wonderful characters and ingenious design all belong to Eiichiro Oda, who, if he has explained this, has not done so in English. It's something I though of when I first watched the Arabasta Arc. It's rambling, consider yourself warned about that.

A Unicorn, Maybe?

It was a beautiful summer day- which was no surprise, after all, this was a Summer Island. Ace had yet to fully acclimate to the random seasonal changes as he traveled from island to island. He smiled and tilted his face back to allow the sun to wash his entire face.

When he woke up, he was flat on his back in a side street, and he had a helluva sunburn. Damn. He rubbed absently at his nose and winced at the dull pain. He hauled himself to his feet and went in search of food.

Ace had left Fuchsia Island more than a year ago, and had recently been accepted into the Whitebeard pirates, no doubt quite an achievement for an eighteen-year-old without any real experience on the sea. Unfortunately, he'd eaten an Akuma no Mi roughly forty-six seconds after arriving in the Grand Line, which was undoubtedly a new record. On the bright side, it was an extremely powerful Logia type that he'd eaten, so though he could no longer swim he had awesome fire powers. Ha, that'd show Luffy, next time they met up. He spared a moment to wonder what his little brother was up to, before wandering into a nearby bar that several of his new crewmates had decided to visit. The captain of their division, Sorra, called Ace in to join them.

The other pirates loved Portgas D. Ace. He was intelligent, a born leader, funny, brave and loyal. He also had the wonderfully entertaining habit of falling asleep randomly, making it quite convenient for the others to slip out and leave him with the check.

Ace swore softly as he lifted his head from the bar. Those bastards… ah well. He smiled sweetly at the woman behind the bar, before bolting for the door. She stared after him, thinking vaguely that she should go after him, but knowing it would be hopeless. Pirates.

Ace was on his way back to the ship when he heard familiar laughter coming from one of the shops lining the road. He poked his head in the door to see what was going on, and saw a handful his deserting crewmates in a semi-circle around a man called Izu, who was scowling and insisting that he was not, in fact, crying like a little girl. It looked to Ace like he was, but he decided to keep that observation to himself. He wandered in to get a better look, and realized that Izu was getting a tattoo. Actually, from the looks of it Izu was the last of the group. Just about everyone present were sporting new tattoos, several with 'Whitebeard' themes. Sorra grinned guiltily at Ace when he entered. "Hope I didn't cause you too much trouble back there, Fire Fist." Ace just glared at him and muttered something about having to run away, and the older man offered to buy him a tattoo as an apology.

"I don't know. Seems a bit premature to get a Whitebeard Pirates tattoo just yet, seeing as I'm not officially part of the crew yet. I could get flames or something, I guess…"

The other pirates made faces at that, asserting that it was most definitely too clichéd to even be considered, although their choice of words was somewhat different. "I know!" Sorra said. "Let's get your name tattooed on you, so next time you run out on a bill, they'll have a name to give the Marines, eh? Besides, it'll let everyone know who they're dealing with! Right?"

Everyone else seemed to agree, and so it was decided. Besides, ACE was short and sweet, and he wouldn't have any trouble keeping his game face on, unlike Izu, who'd finally given up and was weeping into his crossed arms. To be fair, he was getting an enormous rendition of the Whitebeard Pirate Skull and crossbones across his back. Yeesh- you'd never catch Ace doing that…

He settled into a chair, and the young apprentice to the tattoo artist settled himself in to work. "What do you want, then?"

"My name, I guess. Ace."

"Alright, then." The young man pressed the needle against Ace's arm, and then Ace felt himself sliding, once again, into sleep.

When he woke up again (Again! Three times in one day was very unusual- he'd have to worry about that later) his crewmates were watching him with rapt interest and laughing, which was NEVER a good sign. Ace twisted both his head and shoulder, interrupting the young man working on his tattoo.

A S

Wait. A. Okay, that was alright. S. Hm, last time Ace checked, his name had not contained any S's. He sighed deeply, which amused his crewmates even more, before correcting the young man, who looked absolutely horrified. "What… what do you want me to do about it, then? I could cover it up with a unicorn! I do wonderful unic-" Ace stopped him before Sorra exploded with mirth.

"Just… Cross it out, I guess."

Ace was followed by snickers for MONTHS after the tattoo incident.

When he heard that Whitebeard himself had taken an especial interest in him, he was elated. He knew the enormous old man would soon be looking for a new Second Division Commander, and while he was still quite young and new to the crew, he had shown spectacular talent and ability. The ageing captain requested a meeting with Ace, and he could hardly contain himself wondering what the old man wanted.

He showed up precisely on time, with no narcoleptic interruptions this time. He braced himself, doing his very best to look respectful but commanding. Whitebeard raised a massive eyebrow, wondering what, exactly, was afflicting the young man before him as the aforementioned young an was making the most interesting faces. "Portgas D. Ace?" Ace straightened and focused his attention on the captain. "I have heard a great deal about you, young man, and I wished to meet you face to face. I have something to ask you."

Ace looked as solemn as possible, and nodded his acquiescence. Whitebeard laboriously drew in a breath. "Can I see your tattoo? I hear it's quite funny."

-END-

We all know that Ace DID get Commander of Second Division. What I want to know is WHY, and how, so quickly? I like to think maybe the tattoo worked its way into Whitebeard's heart, and endeared A(S)CE to him. If you see any glaring errors, please point them out to me. Thanks! 


End file.
